Thank you for the interpretative question on Luke 14:26, “What does Luke 14:26? Isn’t hatred a sin?”
Reading or citing a verse must be in its context. Perhaps the context may shed some insight as to what Jesus meant by hating one’s family or even one’s self.
Luke 14 says this, “25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. 34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages).
The topic that Jesus challenges the listeners is being his disciple. He uses three examples of counting the cost of being his disciples: considering the cost of building a tower, considering the cost of going to war, and the cost of being salt in this world. A wise person will take into consideration the cost before one begins. Thus one can conclude that Jesus is teaching the cost of or to family relationship. If a person places a family relationship higher than Jesus, then that person’s loyalty will be divided and the priority will be mixed. Jesus is calling his disciples that he must be their first love and loyalty, not family.
The word, hate, has an ideal of strong emotional reaction or aversion to something or to someone. It is to despise, detest, or to abhor. I do not believe Jesus is teaching his disciples to literally continually to hate one’s parents or family members for that will be violating the Ten Commandments to honor one father and honor. One can’t honor and hate one’s parents at the same time. The dearest human relationship is one’s loved one. The closest and dearest human relationship can’t have precedent or priority over Jesus Christ. Every relationship must be subordinate to him. In other words, Jesus can’t take the “back seat” to anyone, including family relationship (Phil. 2:5–11).
In modern terms, Jesus is saying to his listeners and to us, “Are you all in or are you all out?” There is no middle ground. Jesus Christ is Lord over everything and every human relationship or he is not Lord at all over one’s life In our modern culture, Christians today want to be political correct, to stand with the majority but not to stand up for Jesus Christ. I find it strange that other groups of people who are protesting are more passionate than Christians. They are willing to demonstrate for what they believe while Christians sit in their homes safe and secure. Christians have become luke warmed in their loved for God and for our Savior. I include myself in that group, but isn’t Jesus Christ calling his followers to make a difference for the Kingdom of God, not so much as to make one’s country’s great again whether in the United States or another country. A Christian allegiance is to Jesus Christ, not to a political party or to a candidate, not even to a social moment. Christians ought to be careful that their cause is not just about social reform but it must be transformation of lives. There can be no social reform without transformation of life in my opinion. Is Jesus Christ the Lord of everything and everyone in our lives? That is the cost if one truly wants to be a Christian for the Kingdom of God.
SUMMARY: What cost are you willing to bear or to surrender to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ doesn’t accept “luke warmed” followers. You are either all in or you are all out in being a follower of Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground with Jesus Christ. He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.
For more perspectives:
https://www.quora.com/What-does-Luke-14-26-mean-Isn-t-hatred-a-sin